The Only Thing I Need
by C van Zyl
Summary: Maxxie, Anwar and James are living a relatively quiet life in London, in a shoe-box flat with a bright future ahead of them. Max has everything he's ever wanted in life and couldn't be happier. But when a distraught Tony shows up one night and begins to destroy Maxxie's peace and quiet, the blonde realises that maybe he doesn't like the peaceful life as much as he thought he did.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:****I do not own anything related to Skins.**

A/N:  Hello everyone, my name is Cloey van Zyl and I'm new to both fanfiction. net and the skins fandom. Recently I started watching skins and was blown away at how amazing it was. When I got to the end of the second season I was in tears, not only because it was the end of the awesome first generation and I knew that they wouldn't be coming back but also because I knew that I wouldn't be seeing my two favourite characters again: Maxxie and Tony. Taxxie is by far my favourite pairing and so I decided to add my own humble attempt at Taxxie fanfiction to ff .n Hope you guys enjoy and I would really appreciate it if you would review!

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Chapter 1

I rolled over in the bed. _What the fuck is that noise?!_ I grumbled softly and turned back over to try and block out the incessant sound, snuggling my face back into my pillow and securing my arm around James' waist once more. I wasn't conscious enough to understand what that pounding noise was but I wasn't too bothered because Anwar, James and I had become accustomed to the strange noises that we heard from the tiny London flat that we shared. It wasn't long before the pounding stopped just long enough for me to drift back to sleep. It wasn't three minutes later that I heard someone yelling my name. This was more effective in bringing me out of my sleep.

"'S that?" James had also been woken up and he rubbed his eyes and blinked while asking the question with a bleary voice.

"I dunno, I'll go check it out." I said reluctantly, moving out of the bed and into the freezing cold air. Grabbing a hoodie, I shoved my head and arms through the holes and shuffled my way out of the bedroom and across the small living area to the front door, on which, it now became clear, someone was banging and shouting my name.

"MAX! MAX! MAXXIE OPEN UP!" the voice was male and I was struck by a wave of curiosity as to who it might be. Which of my crazy new London friends was waking up the entire building to get me to open the door? _That German couple next door are going to kill me for this tomorrow morning._ We had some very interesting neighbours, Herr and Frau Kühl were among the strangest. I tried to avoid them as much as possible but they always seemed to meet me every morning on the grimy stairs of the block of flats on my way to the dance-school James and I had recently been accepted into while still auditioning for musicals on the side. God knows why they where they were going every morning at six-thirty but they always gave me suspicious glares and muttered a slow "Morgen." in two heavy accents before exchanging glances and almost running off down the stairs whispering complaints to each other about London and the English.

"Why the fuck are you shouting?" I threw open the door and shot a glare at the idiot who had decided to interrupt my sleep. My anger soon froze up when I saw who it was.

"Maxxie." Tony sounded surprised that I was actually here and had opened the door. He also looked like shit. His clothes were dirty and clearly hadn't been changed for a while, his hair was bushy and tangled, his eyes looked unfocused and he was sitting, half-slumped on the ground in front of the door.

"Tony? What the hell are you doing in London?" Clearly this wasn't just a friendly visit. There was something wrong with him. He reminded me of how he had been just after his accident, when he had needed me to cut up his meat before he ate and undo his belt when he needed a piss.

"I… don't know… I needed something- you. You were there for me…" he mumbled and stumbled over his words as his hands clawed at his hair, clearly frustrated and very confused. Something was _very_ wrong.

"Come inside Tone. Quickly." I leaned down to help him stand up but he staggered so much that it was a huge mission just to get him into the flat. Finally, I got him to the couch and we both collapsed onto it.

James must have woken up sufficiently to become curious as to who was responsible for the banging and shouting and entered the lounge-slash-kitchen-slash-dining-room looking sleep-rumpled.

"Ma- Tony?" he asked bewildered at the sight of the tall dark-haired man slumped on our couch, "What're you doing here?" he asked Tony but Tony looked way too out of it to communicate at all. The short stumble to the couch from the front door had exhausted him enough to make him almost comatose and he blinked slowly with heavy eye-lids.

James, realising that Tony was in no state to answer, asked me the same question, figuring that I might know something more, "What's he doing here, Maxxie?"

I stared at Tony for a while as his eye-lids became visibly heavier and soon closed completely and he drifted off to sleep, "No fucking clue." was all I could mutter while thoughts and possible theories zoomed around my head.

"Well what're we going to do with him?" James asked after a period of confused silence.

"He'll have to stay with us for tonight. Then maybe tomorrow he'll be ready to talk."

"He's pretty out of it."

"Yeah. Something's definitely not right."

"Let's get him a blanket or something. Then come back to bed, I'm cold."

I didn't hear most of what James was saying as he made his way back to our bedroom. I was too busy trying to find a blanket and pillow for Tony. He wasn't okay and the only thing I could think of was trying to help him. Just like I always did.

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A/N: Yay, first chapter! It might be a while(max 3 weeks) before I update because I've got exams starting on Friday- Yes, I know I should be studying at the moment, don't give me that look! Anyway, if you've got a moment, please leave a review? I still consider myself to be a beginner when it comes to fanfiction and writing in general so feedback is very much appreciated! -Cloey van Zyl:)

PS: If you like HP or Glee, go check out my other fanfics! And if you'd like to read my attempt at an original story, I've also posted a story of fictionpress . com :D


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:**** I do not own anything related to Skins. **

Author's Note: Hi, so technically I should be studying but I'm taking a bit of a break and was thinking about this story so I decided to indulge myself and post the second chapter. It's a little short and more of a filler chapter than anything but I hope you guys enjoy!

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Chapter 2

I dreamt of Tony.

_He was crying. Actually, scratch that: he was wailing. Sobbing and letting out agonising wails that seemed to pierce right through me. I winced as the sound grew and reverberated around my head. I couldn't find him though. I was in the streets of London and it was raining. I was wet and freezing cold but I didn't, _couldn't,_ care about myself because I knew that Tony was in danger. His cries were echoing from somewhere but I didn't know where. I ran up and down the streets and turned a million corners but I still couldn't find him. _

"_Maxxie!" I whipped around when I heard my name called out. _

_James stood in the rain behind me. His hair was plastered to his face and he was holding out his hand for me to take, "Come, Maxxie. We have to get inside and out of this rain." _

_I shook my head, "I have to find Tony. Can't you hear him?" _

_Tony's wailing strengthened and I was about to run off when James spoke again, this time more urgently, "No Maxxie. Forget about Tony. We have to get inside."_

"_I can't leave him out here! He's crying!" _

"_LEAVE HIM MAX!" _

_I was shocked by James' anger but I couldn't leave Tony. I turned to run toward Tony's wails but James caught my wrist in a stronger than expected grasp. _

"_Let me go, James!" I struggled against him and eventually tore my wrist out of his grip and sprinted away. _

_Tony's cries were getting louder and louder until I turned a last corner and found him lying on a couch in some side-alley. His eyes were closed as if he was sleeping. I ran up to him and tried to put my arms around him comfortingly, "Shh, Tone, it's okay."_

_He opened his eyes but there was fear in them, "MAX!" he shouted. But not from relief, it was almost as if he w-_

"MAX!"

I woke with a start as I was wrenched awake. I could hear Tony wailing just like in my dream. I jumped out of bed and rushed into the lounge where Tony was thrashing around on the couch, the blanket I had placed over him was twisted around his legs and he was desperately trying to kick it off. His shouts of "Max!" interspersed with wordless wails rang through the small flat.

"Tony, I'm here. Relax, Tone." I quickly laid my hands on Tony's shoulders and tried to calm him down. He was awake and when he noticed that I was there, he calmed down. I untangled the blanket from his legs and wrapped my arms around his shoulders and he seemed to deflate into my side. He was still shaking though and I ran the fingers of my right hand gently through his hair.

"What happened Tone? Are you alright?" I asked quietly.

He took a shuddering breath and shook his head confusedly, "I don't understand. What's going on?"

"You're in London, Tone. In my flat. Don't you remember?"

"When did I-" he took another large gulp of air, "When did I get here?"

"A couple of hours ago."

I rubbed my hand comfortingly over his shoulder, "I can't go back, Maxxie. I can't."

"Go back where? To university? Why not, Tony?"

He shook his head fervently again and struggled out of my grasp, turned to face me and said as if it was the most serious thing in the world, "Max, I'm having trouble. It was too difficult so I needed to get away and you were the only person I knew I could trust. You have to promise me that you won't make me go back. I'm not crazy, I just don't want to go back. Okay?"

I stared at him for a while, trying to figure out what was going on in his head, what the hell he was thinking. But then I remembered that Tony was some special type of person. You were never truly sure of what was happening in his head. Even before the accident, his actions didn't make sense half the time and it wasn't until the completion of his so-called 'plans' that you realised that he wasn't crazy, but a bloody genius instead.

"Tony, you have to start at the beginning. Tell me the whole story."

"I will… not now. I'm tired. I just want you to promise."

I hesitated, not wanting to promise anything before I knew all the details, "Fine. I won't send you back. Now sleep. But in the morning you have to tell me everything."

"Yeah…" his voice was already weary and he lay back down on the couch.

"Promise me, Tony." I said, knowing that he was trying to get away with not giving me his word.

He gave a small grumble but relented, "Yeah, I promise Maxxie."

"Good. I'll see you in the morning."

"Mm…"

I left Tony on the couch and went to go and fill James, who had been waiting in the bedroom, in what was going on. I didn't know nearly as much as I wanted to, but at least I knew that Tony would tell me the next morning and that was something. I looked at the bedside clock and it read 4:46. Both James and I were supposed to get up six since we both had school the next morning. The problem was what we were going to do with Tony. Anwar had a job as a waiter at some cheap restaurant down the street for most of the day so he wouldn't be able to make sure Tony was okay. James had an audition in the afternoon so I knew that he would be too busy going over his routine all day. That left me. I had a couple of classes but there was no way I could leave Tony here by himself. Of course I would stay at the flat. Tony specifically said that I was the only person he trusted and I wasn't going to abandon him.

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A/N: Short, I know. But the pace will pick up in the next chapter and things will become slightly more clear, so keep reading! -Cloey :)


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: ****I do not own anything related to Skins.**

Author's Note: Hello! This is the third chapter and I'm happy to report that the story will definitely be picking up pace from now on! Thank you for the reviews and for reading this story. I hope you enjoy:)

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Chapter 3

James was flying around the flat in a bad mood. He always got like that when he was tired and with all the Tony-drama during the night, he was understandably overtired and therefore very cranky. I was desperately trying to calm him down and keep him from waking up Tony, "James! Keep it down, will you?"

"I'm so fucking late…" James didn't seem to hear me and instead continued to mutter under his breath and he grabbed a bottle of water, stuffed it into his bag and rushed out of the flat. I tried not to feel too dejected at the fact that he had forgotten to kiss me goodbye. I knew he was just stressed.

Shooting a glance at Tony's sleeping form on the couch, I debated maybe going back to sleep for a while but decided I had better stay with Tony. Just in case. Especially with Anwar waking up and stomping through the flat on the way to his job at the restaurant down the street, _Paula's_. Anwar was…not exactly sensitive when it came to keeping his voice down and I knew he would wake Tony up if I didn't tell him to shut up.

"Maxxie!? What're you still doing here?", as if on cue, Anwar burst out of his bedroom and hurried around the living room collecting some of his belongings and speaking loudly. He had been asleep all night and hadn't noticed Tony's arrival.

"Shh!" I said frantically from where I was reading a book on one of the armchairs.

"What?" Anwar didn't stop to notice me motioning for him to keep quiet so he continued to the kitchen area; pulled out the box of cereal, chucked a handful of cereal into his mouth, opened the fridge and took a glug of milk all while saying, "Don't you have school now?"

"Anwar-!" I began, but it was too late and the quiet sounds of Tony waking up punctuated the room and both Anwar and I turned to Tony.

"TONY?!" Anwar's eyes seemed to bug out of their sockets slightly, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Tony wasn't properly awake and didn't hear the question, instead he rolled over and made another one of his sleepy-noises.

Anwar loudly repeated the question to me, "What the fuck is he doing here?"

"He arrived last ni-"

"SHIT! It's so late! I've got to run, Maxxie. Bye Tony!" Anwar interrupted and raced out the door before popping his head back around the front door and saying quickly, "Oh, and buy some more milk won't you, Maxxie? It's all finished." before slamming the door shut and rushing off.

I immediately turned my attention back to Tony "Tony?"

Tony gave a muffled grunt from the couch and I moved to sit on the edge of the seat, "Tone? You should get up. Do you want some tea? Breakfast?"

Tony gave another grunt and finally peeked up at me from where his face was half-smushed into the pillow. I took that as a yes and started to prepare what little food we had in the flat.

From the corner of my eye I saw Tony reluctantly pull himself up from the couch into a sitting position. He tried to stand up but failed halfway, gave a gasp of surprise and flopped back down, "Max…" his voice cracked from lack of use when he tried to say my name. I looked up at him and the minute I saw his pitiful expression I rushed to help him to the small kitchen table.

"There you go Tone. You want toast then?"

He nodded, blinking his eyes and seemingly exploring the flat's living room with his blue-eyed gaze. I began on the toast.

"Shouldn't you be at school by now?" Tony broke the slightly awkward silence.

"What?" I asked surprised, turning to stare at him.

"Anwar asked you why you weren't at school, leading me to believe that you're usually gone by the time he wakes up to rush off to wherever every morning." Tony's voice was clear and he sounded way more like himself.

I was more than slightly confused and took a seat opposite him at the table, placing the tea and toast down in front of him along with the one jam we had in the fridge, "I thought you were…completely out of it. What the hell happened to you Tony? Why are you here?"

Tony picked up a piece of toast and began to spread the jam on, "I was out of it…am still I guess. I don't really know, I go through stages of feeling fine and then something just…switches off and I'm totally fuzzy and can't think straight."

"Clearly there's something wrong. Why are you here? Did something happen?"

Tony took a couple of bites and chewed them slowly before swallowing and reluctantly saying, "I can't remember everything…it's all confusing. I was at some shitty party and then- everything just fell apart and I couldn't find my way back to my room. So I came here. You helped me last time, Maxxie."

I looked at Tony like he's fucking crazy. Of course, that's because he _is_ fucking crazy. I rubbed my eyes tiredly. _I will never understand you, Tony Stonem._

"So you came all the way from Cardiff because you couldn't find your way back to your dorm room?"

"It made sense at the time. I know you'll help me." Tony took a gulp of his tea before grabbing another piece of toast and spreading some more jam on it.

"Oh yeah? And what made you come to that conclusion? From where I'm sitting, you've made a right mess of my life already." I said wearily and took a sip of my tea.

"Well, because you're in love with me, Maxxie."

I choked on my tea for a second before quickly swallowing and looking at Tony as if he had suddenly sprouted wings. "What the hell? Tony, I love James."

Tony looked serene and answered with confidence, "Maybe. But you're _in love_ with me. It's different."

Most of the time, like right now, one could never be sure if Tony was joking around or being completely serious. "You're out of your fucking mind, Tony."

"No I'm not, Maxxie. Maybe you don't understand it now, but you will in time. Until then, I'm staying here with you."

"You can't Tony. You need to go back to Cardiff."

He took another sip and shook his head with absolute resolution in his eyes, "Max, there is no way in fucking hell that I'm going back to _Cardiff_."

"You said you need my help. Well, let me _help_ you by making this decision for you. Clearly you were high or something when you lef-"

"I wasn't high. Or drunk. I was… messed up inside." He cut me off and his voice was suddenly hard and unwavering, "That's why I need you to help me."

"So let me help you! Hopefully no one will have noticed you're missing and they won't have called your parents. Let me take you bac-"

"I'M NOT GOING BACK!" he slammed his hands down on the table and glared at me with fire in his eyes.

I steeled my nerves and tried to confront him with reason, "Tony, you want my help? Do you? Then let me make this choice for you-!"

"I'm not _fucking_ leaving you, Maxxie. _I_ _NEED you!_" he hissed at me and I was shocked into silence. Sure, he needed my help, but _need_ me? Just me? That was something I never thought I'd hear… Tony didn't need anyone but himself. That was how he always made himself out to be, this independent person who couldn't give a fuck about anyone but himself and certainly didn't _need_ anyone but himself. And now he was saying that he needed _me_? This Tony was clearly more different than I had previously thought.

I broke the silence, "You can stay for now…Tone… but just consider going back home maybe, to your parents if you don't want to go back to Cardiff."

Tony got up from the table and I thought he was just ignoring me while he flopped back down on the couch and seemingly tried to go back to sleep.

But it was while I was clearing up the kitchen that I heard Tony's muffled voice from the couch, "You know… you need me too Maxxie. We need each other."

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A/N: So we finally had a proper conversation with Tony and got..._some_ answers. And a couple more interesting questions: Tony needs Maxxie? Maxxie's in love with Tony? Maxxie _needs_ Tony as well? Heeee! I'm having so much fun writing this story! Especially Tony! Please keep reading and leave a review to tell me your thoughts:D -Cloey


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER:**** I do not own anything related to Skins.**

Author's Note: Hi everyone! Thanks for reading! Not going to say anything else other than: I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 4

Most of the rest of the day was spent dozing on the armchair waiting for Tony to wake up again.

"Maxxie?" I was jerked out of my hazy attempt to catch up on the sleep I had lost during the night by Tony shaking my shoulder.

"Huh?" I blinked sleepily while my eyes brought Tony's face into focus, "Tone?"

"Maxxie, I can't get the shower to work." He gave me another shake to bring out of my sleepy state more quickly.

"No wonder, it never works. It's broken. Why didn't you just run a bath instead?" I rubbed my eyes and moved towards the bathroom, Tony following.

"I didn't think…" he mumbled, looking embarrassed that he couldn't run himself a bath.

I turned on the taps in the bath, "You didn't flush the toilet either, Tone." I pointed out as I noticed the upturned toilet seat and the unflushed loo and went to flush it for Tony, since he had obviously forgotten or whatever. He also had a bit of a problem with his aim.

"I'm sorry Max, I'll do that." He moved forward to take the toilet paper from my hand and cleaned up the mess, "You probably think I'm a fucking moron who can't even piss properly."

Stepping back to watch him throw the dirty toilet paper into the loo and then avoid my eyes as he stood up, I definitely wasn't thinking that he was moron. I felt sorry for him. Not pity, no one could pity Tony. But just sad because this was who Tony was now. It wasn't his fault, he was just…more helpless now. I almost hugged him but knew he'd think that I was pitying him and he'd hate it.

Instead, I changed the subject, "Bath's ready. I'll get you a towel and some of Anwar's clothes since he's the closest to your height." And I left the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

When I returned to the bathroom I made sure to knock on the door before entering, "Can I come in?"

"Sure." He called to me. Thinking he'd still have his clothes on, I happily barged into the room.

"Woah! Sorry, I thought you'd still be dressed!" I lifted the towel and clothes to cover my eyes when I saw him standing, about to climb into the bath, completely naked.

"Don't be a baby, Maxxie. You were bound to see me naked eventually." He said, taking the towel and clothes out of my hands, "Besides, I saw your cock that time I gave you head remember?"

Giving a sigh and reminding myself that I was an adult who shouldn't find it too embarrassing, I reluctantly opened my eyes.

He smirked when he noticed my eyes inevitably glance down to his cock and I shot a glare at him and looked pointedly away. He gave a chuckle and climbed into the bath, testing the water's temperature gingerly before sinking below the water, "Don't act like you haven't always wondered whether it was as big as I pretended it was."

I blushed and changed the subject, fixing my eyes on a spot of the wall next to his face so that I wouldn't have to see his amused expression, "You've got everything you need? There's a spare toothbrush in the cupboard below the sink and I brought you a towel and a change of clothes."

I made for the door but stopped when Tony said, "Don't leave me."

I met his eye with a confused expression, "Why not? This is kind of awkward isn't it?"

"You're just shy. I want some company. Please?" he said, grabbing the sponge and soap from the soap dish.

I rubbed the back of my neck and turned to sit on the closed lid of the toilet. "Fine." Before realising it would extra awkward if I just sat there and stared at him. "So… do you have any plans as to what you're going to do while you're in London?"

Tony frowned, "I'm sick of talking about me. What about you, Maxxie? What've _you_ been doing in London?"

"Uh, lots I guess. It's been pretty wonderful actually. Me and James are at the same dance school and still auditioning for musicals. He's got an audition this afternoon in fact-"

"I don't want to talk about James, Max. I just want to know about you." He said in a matter of fact kind of way. I wasn't sure if I should be offended for James or take it as a compliment that he was interested in me, "I'm getting there. I've made a couple of really cool friends. There's a lot of interesting people here in London. A lot more gays of course. I've got James though, but it's nice to have friends who are like me. Miss my parents and home though sometimes. Mum keeps trying to get me to come home. Somehow she doesn't want to believe that I can only come home during the holidays."

"But you're happy here, right?" Tony asked, almost attentively while soaping up his chest.

"Yeah, 'course. It's great here."

"You ever hear from the others?" he asked, clearly meaning our old friends: Jal, Michelle, Sid and Cassie.

"Not directly but you hear the occasional news from the parents. I hear Sid went to New York to get Cassie!"

Tony grinned slightly, "Yeah, finally convinced him to go find her."

"And," I began hesitantly, "I heard you and Michelle broke up."

"Michelle?" he smiled slightly at the sound of her name and continued scrubbing his arms, "Yeah, we ended it before I left for Cardiff. We wouldn't have worked in the long-run."

"So no new girl then?" I asked the obvious question that followed.

"I don't need girls, Maxxie." He looked up at me with those blue eyes of his, "I just need you."

Ugh, why did he _do_ that!? Say something like that when he was supposed to be a sociopath with whom it was just a bad idea to get involved. He was not supposed to say things that gave me shivers and made my heart clench. _Remember what happened after Russia, Maxxie! Remember the shit you got yourself in because of it!_

"Tone…"

"Yes, Max?" he asked innocently, gaze still fixed to mine.

"Nothing…" I didn't even know where to start. My mind was too confused to even form a sentence, let alone talk to Tony when he was being so…frustratingly indiscernible.

"Max, I'm home!"

Both Tony and I were startled out of our thoughts and looked up at the door and the general direction of James' voice.

"Hi babe!" I called back and ignored Tony's quiet, "Maxxie…" while I hurried out of the bathroom and away from Tony and the confusing thoughts he sparked in me to go and greet James.

"Hi, Maxxie." James greeted me with a small kiss after I gave him a quick hug.

"How was the audition?" I immediately put on the kettle while he dropped his bag on the kitchen table and sank into an armchair.

"Alright, better than the last one."

"That's good, think you'll get it?" I pulled out three mugs and popped teabags into them.  
He rubbed his eyes tiredly and gave a grin, "I don't want to speak too soon but…yeah, I think I might have."

"I'm so happy for you, babe."

"Thanks… How's Tony?"

"Alright. More himself, which is good." I came to sit on the couch, "He's just in the bath now."

"So when's he leaving?"

"James!" I chastised, hoping Tony didn't hear, "He said he doesn't want to back to university and I have yet to convince him to go back to his parents at least."

"Well he can't stay here forever."

"I know that, but obviously something's happened and he's my friend. He isn't a hundred percent okay." I was practically whispering now but James didn't seem to get the message.

"Yeah, I get it. Just as long as if he doesn't keep us from living our lives. Especially if I get that part, I don't some mental patient distracting me."

I stared at James' rude bluntness and was amazed at how I had never noticed what an arsehole he could be sometimes.

The realisation made me sick to my stomach.

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A/N: I know that some of you might not like it if James is horrible, but for the purpose of this story he kind of needs to have some flaws, I don't want to say anything more now because I don't want to spoil the ending (which I have written) so I'll explain in more detail at the end of the last chapter. I hope you liked this chapter and would really appreciate a review:) -Cloey


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER: **** I do not own anything related to Skins.**

Author's Note : Argh. This week has been absolute hell. I'm as sick as a dog but still have to drag myself to school because, even though exams ended two weeks ago and holidays start this Friday, I have a million a two tests and speeches to do, not to mention a nation benchmark test on Saturday that will heavily effect university applications. I've been looking forward to this afternoon for EVER because it's my one pit-stop before holidays and I've missed getting caught up in stories and writing.

There was a guest review posted for this story and since I couldn't reply personally and I thought it necessary to give some sort of explanation to the reviewer, I'm replying here and I hope that whoever you are gets a chance to read this: First, thank you for the review, I know many people wouldn't even bother to leave any feedback. Second, this is a story from my imagination and because I am often a naive romantic, it's only natural that I invent a storyline where my favourite pairing have few obstacles. It's certainly a huge failing of mine because it means that my stories are often too predictable and unrealistic. I should point out that it is something that I am trying to improve on. Of course, you're completely right: in terms of the canon, Tony _is_ in love with Michelle and would probably rely on her before Maxxie and perhaps killing off Michelle and having that be the moment of change in Tony's life would have been a much better storyline. But, as I said, I am a romantic and the issue of Michelle didn't really even occur to me because the Taxxie in my imagination was too busy being so damn adorable. So, yeah. I'm sorry if you're disappointed but maybe this is an opportunity for you to write your own story about Taxxie, including all the Michelle drama. Personally, I think it would be a pretty interesting fanfiction and I would certainly read it! If you do read this and would like to reply, I would welcome a PM to discuss further:) -Cloey

Okay, now, on to the fifth chapter! Enjoy!

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Chapter 5

James got the part in the musical. It wasn't a huge part but obviously I was happy for him, how could I not be? But it also meant James was busy nearly all the time. And busy-ness meant James was spending more time practising and less time at home. It also meant that he was constantly tired and therefore extra cranky.

I had to go to school. It meant having to leave Tony by himself which made me understandably nervous but there was no way I could continue missing classes. Tony tried to act as if he was fine with it but even Anwar could tell that it set him on edge and he mentioned to me, a couple of weeks after Tony had arrived in London, "I honestly think he has a panic attack every time you leave, Maxxie. Whenever I leave in the morning, he looks awful and weird, like he's having trouble breathing or something."

I tried not to think about Tony during the day but I couldn't help agonising over Anwar's description of Tony and how maybe he really wasn't as okay as he was becoming increasingly better at acting.

When I came home every afternoon though, Tony was lit up and strangely happy and I would think that maybe Anwar was just talking shit like usual.

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"Maxxie, come to bed!" James called to me from our bedroom.

"You better go before he gets angry." Tony said and gave me a small shove towards my bedroom.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" I asked as I reluctantly got up from my seat on the edge of the couch.

"I'm fine, Max. Go to bed and be with your boyfriend."

I looked down at Tony lying on the couch and tried to see past the smirk and fake exterior but Tony was too good at hiding his emotions when he wanted to. He had, unfortunately, gotten better at it the longer he had been in London.

"Okay… Goodnight, Tone." I muttered and made my way to my bedroom, my head still confused by Tony being Tony.

James was already lying in bed when I came into the room and quickly climbed in next to him.

"Hi." He whispered and immediately moved over me and captured my lips. I was slightly caught off guard since we hadn't exactly done anything other than a few kisses here and there since Tony had come to London.

"Hi to you too." I mumbled as James' lips explored my neck and his fingers made quick work of removing my pyjama pants. "Are you sure we should-"

"I've been going crazy lately. Tony's been keeping you busy for days now. I need you too, you know." he wasted no time in grabbing the lube, coating his fingers and sliding one digit into me. I gasped at the intrusion but was soon lost in the sensation of James' fingers. It didn't take long before James was finished with the prepping, was sliding on the condom and flipping me over so that I was on all fours.

"Fu-ck" he grunted as he inched his way slowly into me.

"Shh, James." I warned him of being too loud. Anwar might sleep like a ton of bricks but Tony could still be awake.

James didn't seem to hear me and started to give shallow thrusts. Soon, the pleasure started to surpass the uncomfortable feeling of being stretched after weeks of nothing and I started to push back to meet his thrusts. James could tell that I was relaxing and his hips moved faster, pounding forward into me while I reluctantly gave soft moans into the pillows. He let out a particularly loud groan and I tried to warn him again, "James, keep it down…"

"Don't worry Maxxie." He panted, snaking a hand around me and taking my cock into his hand to pump it to the same rhythm as his thrusts. The pleasure was too good and I couldn't think straight enough to realise that James and I were being too loud.

"Max!" he encouraged me as we both felt the climax approaching, the pleasure building while we moved faster.

A few more erratic flicks of James' hips and he shook with his release, his hips stuttering as he rode out his orgasm, letting out a final loud groan. His hand stopped stroking me for a moment but soon resumed and finished me off, enveloping me in his arms as my muscles tensed and I chanted almost incoherently, "James, James, James, James!"

We lay jumbled together for a few minutes while we rested before he pulled out of me and made quick work of cleaning us up and flopping back onto the bed, snaking his arms around my waist again and pulling me against his chest.

"Wasn't that amazing?" he asked cockily and I could feel him smirking in the darkness.

"Mmm," I mumbled, "We were a bit loud though."

"Who cares, everyone's asleep and I'm just appreciating my boyfriend. Nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah…" I left it at that and soon fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning found James and I awake and out of the flat long before Tony woke up and so I only got a chance to see and talk to him when I got home at four.

"Tony?" I called to him as soon as I arrived at the flat. No answer. Checking all the rooms twice, I realised that he had gone out. Understandably he must have been feeling bored because he hadn't been out of the flat for a week since I was too busy to take him, but it really wasn't such a great idea for him to be wandering around London by himself. Sure, he was a lot better than when he had first come to London but he was still not fully able to be independent and I was worried sick about him. He didn't have his cellphone on him because I saw it lying on the living room table and after checking with Anwar and James that they didn't know where he was, I was officially terrified.

I was split between searching London's streets high and low, waiting in the flat in case he came back on his own and calling the police to report a missing person. The police wouldn't be bothered to find a slightly unstable man when they had murderers to catch and I knew I'd go fucking crazy if I just sat around so I figured my best bet would be to leave a note for him in the flat telling him to stay put and that I was out looking for him and go on a one-man searching party.

I grabbed my coat and practically sprinted out of the flat, my mind racing to think of possible places he could be.

On the stairs, I grudgingly had to stand aside for Herr and Frau Kühl who were on their way up the stairs, carrying very large and suspicious-looking black bags filled with God knows what. I was just on my way to sprint off again when I had the bright idea of asking them if they had seen Tony.

"That _strange _boy? Tall and shouting loudly at night?" they muttered. I guessed they could only be referring to the night Tony arrived and woke up the whole block with his knocking and shouting my name, "Yes! Tony! Did you see him leave today?"

"We saw him go when we go to shops almost three hours ago. He was very unfriendly. Didn't say hello."

"Do you know where he went? Did you see?"

"He went down that way." Herr Kühl pointed vaguely in the direction of one of the many streets. I grinned, at least it was something. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" I said and rushed off in the direction they had pointed.

An hour later and I was no longer as optimistic as I had been after speaking to the German couple.

They had been slightly helpful but it still left me with absolutely no other leads as to his whereabouts and I was basically aimlessly wandering around. I tried calling Anwar and James again to tell them to keep their eyes open and make sure to contact me if they found him but neither of them would pick up their phones so I was left with just leaving anxious voicemails and a hundred texts.

I felt like I was in the dream I had had when Tony had first arrived in London. The one where I could hear his crying and I was searching the streets for him. But this was worse, first of all because it was no dream and second of all because I didn't have his wails to follow.

* * *

It was late and still no sign of him. I decided the best thing to do was to return to the flat and call the police if he wasn't there yet. On the way back to the flat, I passed some dingy pub. It must have been my lucky fucking day because to my surprise, Tony was leaning against the wall of the equally dodgy side-alley next to the pub and puking his guts out. At first I didn't notice it was him but fate had me glance back at the man and then realise it was my Tony.

"Tony! Oh my God, Tone!" I rushed up to him and laid a hand on his back, rubbing circles into it while he retched again. He turned around to see whoever it was behind him, "Maxxie?" he croaked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, "You found me."

"What the hell are you doing here? Why are you vomiting?" I asked.

He leant his forehead against the brick wall and closed his eyes, "I don't feel good, Maxxie. Please, you have to help me."

Eventually I managed to get him home. It took an agonisingly long time and we had to stop three more times so that Tony could puke some more but finally we got back to the flat and we hobbled to the bathroom where he placed his head into the toilet and retched once more while I ran a quick bath for him. This time, it was me who undressed him and him who was embarrassed by his nakedness.

"You don't have to…" he tried to resist me when I started on his pants but I shushed him and helped him into the bath where I soaped him up and rinsed him off while he alternated between closing his eyes and gazing at me with innocent fascination in his big blue eyes.

"What happened to you, Tone? Why did you leave the flat?" I asked once I had dried him off and dressed him in some of the pyjamas I had bought for him a couple of weeks earlier. We were curled up on the couch underneath his blankets.

"I didn't want to be here anymore."

"Why not?" I asked curiously, squeezing his hand which was held in mine.

He looked down and fiddled with the edge of the blanket with his free hand, "The whole place reeks of sex."

"_What?_" My mind flew instantly to the previous night. Surely he wasn't talking about me and James, I foolishly tried to assure myself.

"From last night. James fucked you. I heard you call out his name."

Now it was my turn to avoid his eyes as I blushed heavily. James was my boyfriend and I loved him but it was still embarrassing knowing that Tony had heard him and me having sex.

"Shit, I'm sorry Tony. I tried to keep quiet." I muttered, letting go of his hand and rubbing it over my face.

"It hurt. Hearing him fuck you when I know you're in love with me."

I looked up at him, reprimand evident in my expression, "Tone, you can't say things like that. I don't love you. I have James and I love him. Please don't make things like that up."

His eyes turned hard and cold and Tony instantly distanced himself from me, "I'm not making anything up, Max. I just _know_ things that other people don't."

"How on earth would you know that I'm in love with you when I don't even know it myself?" I argued back, upset at Tony for ruining our nice little bonding session by bringing uncomfortable topics up.

"I can sense it. It's instinctive. Like how animals can tell when a storm is coming."

I tried hard to resist the urge to hit my head repeatedly against the side of the sofa in frustration, "God, Tony, why do you have to be so fucking annoying all the time?"

"You're only annoyed because you haven't figured me out yet."

"I will _never_ figure you out, Tony."

"Don't worry, you don't have to understand me to love me." He grinned, slightly manically, and grabbed hold of my hand again.

* * *

A/N: Please excuse that terrible attempt at a sex scene. I've only written a sex scene once before(Glee fanfiction) so bear with me. Other than that... what did you guys think? Review and let me know!:) -Cloey


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER:**** I do not own anything related to Skins.**

Author's Note: Hi, here's chapter six! Not sure what else to say, hope you enjoy:D

* * *

Chapter 6

More weeks passed. James was around less and less as opening night for the musical approached. For me this meant more time with Tony. More time becoming increasingly confused by Tony and his strange way of making me feel both completely happy and annoyed at the same time. When I spent time with him it was like I was dreaming. Like I was high on Tony. He made me feel like nothing else mattered but him and me.

"Maxxie?" Tony asked one afternoon while we sat on the roof of my block of flats and watched the world go by down below on the road. We could still hear the strange buzzing noise that always came from flat 603 and the Scottish lady who lived on the top floor singing the same Broadway song, but up on the roof everything was quietened. Everything was hushed. The roof was one of my favourite places to go with Tony because it's strange and surreal atmosphere reminded me of Tony.

"Yeah?" I asked, looking down at the traffic that was moving on the street.

Tony took my hand suddenly and although he did it often and I was used to it, I looked down at our joined hands anyway. "I feel good today."

"That's good, Tone." I said distractedly, I'd given up trying to understand the cryptic meanings behind all of Tony's words.

"It's not good."

I looked up at him, "It isn't?"

He gave a small smile and shook his head, "It's different. A _good_ different, but still mainly just different."

Again, I tried not to get bogged down in trying to decode his way of thinking but once more only succeeded in feeling frustrated that I couldn't, "Fine then, that's different, Tone."

"Do you know why I feel good today?" he asked another seemingly random question.

"Why?"

"Because it's getting easier for you." He leaned into my space, transfixing me with his blue eyes, "Because each day that I sit in your flat and watch you with James," he lifted his hand and gently placed two fingers on my cheek, "kissing him," he stroked his fingers down my cheek, "fucking him," the fingers moved across my lips, "and loving him." his hand moved down to my neck, "Each day you slowly begin to realise…" his hand moved to the back of my neck and he leaned in even further, brushing his lips against the corner of mine and gen-

"Tony, _stop_." I pulled away completely and put at least a metre between us. He didn't move though and froze where he was, extended out to kiss me just like before I had moved, "You _can't_ do t-"

"Each day you slowly begin to realise that you're in love with me." He cut across me, finishing his sentence and then getting to his feet and taking the stairs back down to the flat.

I watched him with the same mix of pure happiness and painful annoyance that I always got when I was with Tony.

* * *

I couldn't look at James when he returned home that night after a long day at rehearsal. The guilt hit me like a strong punch to the gut and I curled into a ball in my bed- _our_ bed- and tried to convince myself that there was nothing in my feelings towards Tony that should make me feel guilty.

"Max?" James asked as soon as he had grunted an acknowledgement to Tony's whispered goodnight and come into our bedroom.

I didn't answer him, trying to pretend to be asleep.

"Max?" the tone of his voice and the rough shake he gave my shoulder to wake me up made it clear that he was annoyed.

I had no choice but to respond. I pretended to have been woken up by his shake of my shoulder, "James?" I turned over to face him and asked 'sleepily'.

"Where were you today?" he asked coldly. He had switched the light on so I could see his stony-faced expression clearly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused because I was still feigning having just woken up and also because I genuinely didn't understand his question or the reason why he was seemingly angry with me.

"Answer the question."

"I was at school, went shopping for some groceries and then I came home. Why do you want to know?" I asked again, more alertly this time.

He glowered at me before turning away, changing and climbing into bed next to me, lying with his face facing away from me. I gave a huff at his odd behaviour and turned off the light. Five minutes later he spoke again, with the same accusing tone in his voice, "You weren't answering your phone."

"Sorry that I didn't sit by the phone all day just in case you needed me." I said back in a defensive voice. If he was going to be angry then so was I.

"It would be nice to be able to get hold of you without wondering whether you're too busy keeping Tony happy."

I sat up abruptly, switched on the light and turned to face him with a shocked expression on my face, "What the hell does that mean?"

He sat up as well and turned to face me, "It means that I would like to come home and be able to be with my boyfriend without having him constantly thinking about another man!"

"What the fuck are you talking about? Tony's my friend and of course I worry about him. Excuse me if you don't have all of my attention a hundred percent of the time." I shook my head at this ridiculous conversation and how it really wasn't helping the guilt that still lay in the pit of my stomach, "Besides the fact that _you're_ the one who's always at rehearsal and never around anymore."

"That's my work!" he defended before adding, "And I'm not asking for every ounce of your attention, I'm just saying that I can't have a moment in this fucking flat without hearing about Tony this and Tony that. I can't even come home and kiss my boyfriend-let alone _fuck_ you!- because you're worried that Tony might see or hear or heaven fucking forbid- get _jealous_!" he was building himself into a rage, gesticulating and throwing wild accusations around.

"James-"

"Don't try and lie to me, Max. Everyone knows that he's in love with you."

"Ja-" I tried again before he took this too far, further than was recoverable.

"But that's the crazy thing, isn't it. You'd think that he was completely insane for allowing himself to fall for a guy who has a boyfriend who lives in the same flat that he's been _infesting_ for the last couple of months. But actually it isn't that far-fetched because the guy with the boyfriend; he's the one who's so concerned for Tony. He'd do anything for his precious Tony. He'd even allow Tony to believe that coming into _my_ flat and falling in love with _my_ boyfriend was perfectly acceptable."

He paused for a breath and let his words sink in. Tears were filling my eyes at a rapid rate as I realised that there was nothing I could do to stop him. Anything I said, or tried to say, would make James angrier. He'd just find a way to twist my words to add fuel to his fire.

"From the moment Tony showed up here, I knew that things would change around here. But I didn't know that you'd actually let him change _you_." He spat these words at me, kicked off the covers, grabbed a coat and pulled on some jeans before stalking out of the room and slamming both the bedroom and the front door.

I stared down at my hands and let the tears fall. The worst part of it all was that James was almost a hundred percent right. _James_ was my boyfriend and _James_ was the man that I was supposed to love…that I did love. And it was all Tony's fault making me question that.

* * *

"Maxxie?" Tony opened the door to my bedroom quietly and poked his head in.

I looked up, hoping it would be James but knowing that it wasn't. "Go away Tony."

"What's wrong, Maxxie?" his voice was gentle but it grated against my nerves.

"GO AWAY!" I shouted, my face was tear-stained because of him. Tony looked surprised for a moment but soon his face turned soft and he entered the room against my order, "I'm not leaving you, Maxxie."

"It's all your fucking fault, Tony!" I shouted again and this made him stop in his tracks and not approach the bed anymore.

"What do you mean?" he asked quietly, clearly knowing that I was soon going to explode in frustration and bracing himself for my angry words.

"God, don't act so bloody stupid. You know exactly what I mean. I was so perfectly content before you came here. I had James and I loved him. I had school and friends and everything was perfect. But then you came and fucked everything up with your stupid problems and the way that you _needed_ me all of a sudden. You never make any sense to anyone but yourself. You talk crap and have the balls to tell me of my secret feelings for you when I don't even know about them." I deflated slightly and run a hand through my hair in frustration while Tony continued to stand in front of me and just listened silently, waiting for me to finish, "James hates me because of _you_. You came into my life and made me question everything. You messed everything in my life up and now I'm just…s-so confused."

My rant over, I collapsed back onto my bed and covered my face with my hands, letting the tears of frustration and helpless anger pour out after so long of having kept them in because I had needed to be the strong one.

I didn't hear Tony leave but when I found an empty couch the next morning, I figured he must have finally made up his mind and decided to actually do me a favour and make my life easier for once. Sighing with a large amount of regret and some relief, I folded up the blankets and put away the pillows and the clothes that I had bought for Tony to use and sat down to wait for James to come home to me.

A/N: Thoughts? :) -Cloey


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER: ****I do not own anything related to Skins.**

Author's Note: Hi everyone, this is the second-to-last chapter and it's really short(877 words). I really didn't want James and Maxxie to leave off on a bad note and I knew that it was important for Maxxie to let James know that he _had_ loved him and that he was sorry for how things had turned out. Thus, this chapter was born. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 7

James came home three days later. I was still waiting for him on the couch. He walked in with a hard, blank expression on his face. He looked like he had come to do battle. Battle or business.

"James." I said quietly, alerting him to my presence. He looked over to where I was sitting and I had hoped I might see a flicker of some softer emotion in his eyes but there was only the distanced stare.

"Tony's left then."

I tried to hold his stare, but I couldn't and was the first to look away. "He left right after you did."

"Well it was a bit too late for him to do anything to fix the damage he'd done."

I met his eyes again in curiosity and cocked my head to one side, "Is it too late, James? Is his damage completely irrevocable?"

He walked over to one of the armchairs and flopped down on it, he seemed to have let some of his guard down and looked really tired with the large bags under his eyes and the pallid-ness of his face, "You tell me, Maxxie."

I looked around the room as if it would somehow sort through the confusion that had jumbled up all of my feelings and thoughts and pull an answer to James' question out from somewhere, "You know Tony… he didn't do anything half-way. If he wanted to do something, he made sure he bloody-well did it." I looked once more at James and said quietly, knowing that this was a sad time for me and him, "It feels like it's too late."

He nodded slowly, "Yeah, it does."

There was silence between us and we both contemplated the huge change that the realisation had on our lives. "I've been staying with Dan and he said that I was welcome to stay as long as possible while we sorted…this out. I'm going to take his offer and get out of here." James said after a while of the surprisingly not awkward silence between us.

"That's a good plan." I said in agreement. There was no way that James could stay here with Anwar and me anymore. He stood and made his way to the bedroom, which was no longer our bedroom, but I stopped him before he could get far, "I really did love you, you know." I said, knowing that it was important that I tell him before he left. He turned to look at me and there was an odd expression in his eyes. A mix between sadness, regret and amusement, "I know. I loved you too. Tony just fucked it all up, didn't he?"

I nodded, "Yeah…"

James started to leave again but there were still things that I needed to tell him before he went, "I didn't cheat on you… not properly."  
He turned back to face me again, "What about the kiss?"

I looked at him with wide, shocked eyes. Had he seen the almost-kiss with Tony on the roof?! "How did you…?"

"I figured there must have been one somewhere along the line." He shrugged and I wasn't sure whether he was just good at hiding his true feelings or whether he honestly didn't care that much.

"It wasn't a proper kiss. I stopped it before… I just wanted you to know that I didn't cheat on you."

Now the amused part of his expression took over and he gave a crooked smile, "Cheating isn't only the physical, you know."

"I just don't want you to remember me as the boyfriend who cheated on you."

"You mean you didn't want to think of yourself as the guy who cheated on your boyfriend." He corrected me and I dropped my gaze as I realised that he was perfectly correct. "Tony fucks with everyone's head. If anything, I blame him for this mess. You were just a victim." He added.

But his blaming only Tony for my confusion of feelings was so wrong. "No, Tony may have messed everything up but he was only here to do that because I let him stay. I didn't want him to go."

He conceded to my argument with a nod.

He packed up his stuff quickly and I waited in the lounge to say goodbye, which I did when he came out of the bedroom with a couple of suitcases.

"I'll see you around, Maxxie." He said softly, clearly not wanting to part on unfriendly terms. I got up from the couch and gave him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek, "I'm really sorry, James. Goodbye."

He gave me a smile and opened the door to leave, "Oh, I almost forgot. Here." He pulled out something from his back pocket and handed them to me, "They're tickets for the musical. If you're in London, I'd like it if you came to see it."

I looked down at them and was touched by the gesture of friendship, "Thanks, James. I wouldn't miss it."

"Good. Well… bye then." He said and went through the open front door.

"Bye." I said and closed the door behind him, looking down at the tickets and seeing that there were three. One for me, one for Anwar and one for…?

* * *

A/N: I hope all of you approve of the way that Maxxie and James said their goodbyes and left things (especially those of you who liked James- I like James and Maxxie as a couple in the canon myself so I count myself as one of this group). Let me know what you thought in the form of one of those _wonderful_ reviews :D Until next time!- Cloey


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER:**** I do not own anything related to Skins.**

Author's Note: Ah, the end of another story. I'm kind of insecure about writing in general because I rarely finish stories so the fact that I finished this Skins fan-fiction is pretty awesome. A couple of people asked me whether Effy was going to show up in this story and at first I didn't want her to because she's such a complicated character and I thought that I wouldn't really be able to write her I found that this last chapter would be a perfect opportunity to bring her in quickly so I really hope I did her justice. Thanks so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed and favourited this story. The Skins fandom is pretty awesome and I'm so happy that I decided to write this story when I first got the idea. Anyway, here's the last chapter. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 8

I took a deep breath, steeled myself and rang the bell. Eventually the door opened and a tired-looking dark-haired girl was revealed, "Maxxie." she said in a bored tone, clearly expecting me.

"Hey Effy. Long time, no see. How've you been?" I asked, giving a smile and trying to be good-natured. Like with Tony, you never understood what was going on in Effy's mind. She and Tony were uniquely special in that way. Effy looked unimpressed by my attempt at small talk and cut right to the chase, "He's here but he's sleeping. He only got home a couple of hours ago so no, I'm not waking him up for you."

Only got home a couple of hours ago? It was nine in the morning… _Please don't tell me he was out getting smashed all night._ I thought, knowing that in this case I was probably right.

"Is he alright? Was he feeling sick when he came home this morning?" I immediately started asking questions. He wasn't stable enough to be taking drugs or drinking lots of alcohol. I remembered the last time he had gone out by himself in London and I had found him completely confused in an alley puking his guts out. "Can I at least come in and see him? Just to make sure he's okay. I won't wake him up."

Effy gave me a strange look and seemed to be analysing me. "Fine. Whatever. Just don't disturb him." she stepped aside and I quickly rushed up the stairs, to his old room. "Not there, that's my room now." Effy said, knowing that I was at the door of Tony's old room while still standing downstairs, "He's in the one to the left of the bathroom." I turned to the door she had said he was in and gently knocked before entering. He was lying asleep in the bed, looking tired and ill.

I sat on the edge of the bed and stroked his hair a bit, whispering, "Hey Tony."

"I said don't wake him up." Effy said, suddenly appearing in the doorway, "Do you want tea?"

I looked up at her in surprise at her offer, "Yeah, thanks."

She walked away before turning back to me to gesture that I must leave Tony and follow her downstairs. She made quick work of putting on the kettle and collecting two mugs and teabags. I took a seat at the kitchen table, "Where're your parents?" I asked, wondering why they hadn't said hello to me like they usually did.

"Dad's left. Mum's off somewhere, drowning herself in her own tears because she can't stand her life anymore since I've started fucking it up."

I stared at her, stunned at her casual tone of voice. "What? Why'd your dad leave?"

"Mum fucked his boss so he left and mum lost it when Tony arrived looking like he did right after the accident." She said all of this while pouring the newly boiled water into the two mugs.

"I'm so sorry Effy."

"About what?" she asked, turning to look at me.

I was slightly taken aback by the question and the irritated tone with which she said it. "About your parents…"

"Wrong answer." She said with even more venom. "What goes on between my parents is none of your business. What _is_ your business is Tony. You were supposed to look after him and you didn't. Instead he's even worse now."

I was completely stunned now and very embarrassed because I knew that she was right, "I… I tried to look after him. And I did, for a while. But everything got messed up and I couldn't take it anymore. And then he just left."

She sighed and it seemed some of her anger had disappeared, "My brother is the best person I've ever met. He observes people and sees things in them. He's the only person in the world who can read people almost as well as I can. Whatever happened in London that you think he caused…it wasn't his fault. He just took the blame for it because he was the only one who knew it was going to happen anyway and warned you before it did."

I tried hard to understand the meaning of her words but I couldn't concentrate properly. Everything was still so confused. Even more confused now, after having talked to Effy. Suddenly, the silence was interrupted by a cellphone ringing. Effy grabbed her cellphone from the table and answered it, "Yeah? What is it, Cook? No, you idiot- well that's too bad, isn't it?" She put down the phone abruptly and walked out of the kitchen, ignoring me.

She made her way across the hallway and was about to leave the house when I called out, "Effy? Where're you going?"

"Out. Look after Tony…if you can." And then she left and I was alone with my messed up thoughts.

I finished making the two mugs of tea and made my way back upstairs to Tony. I pulled up a chair and sat right next to his bedside, sipping my tea and waiting for him to wake up.

* * *

It took a couple of hours but eventually he mumbled something sleepily, moved his legs around and cracked open his eyes.  
"Maxxie?" he asked, seeing me sitting in front of him and watching him intently. His voice was thick with sleep and cracked slightly.

"Tony. Finally." I said, moving from the chair to the edge of his bed to be nearer to him.

"What're you doing here? Where's James?" he shifted and sat up in bed.

"I don't know. He moved out of the flat. Haven't seen him since he left about a week ago." I said, reaching out a hand and stroking his hair. He still looked really ill but my touch seemed to calm him down a bit.

"I'm sorry I fucked up everything, Maxxie." He said quietly, "I never said sorry about that."

I smiled and shook my head, "It doesn't matter Tony. It wasn't your fault anyway. It was mine. Like you said, I had…feelings for you- still do."

"So you're not mad at me…?" he asked tentatively.

"No Tony. I think I need to say sorry to you actually." I took his hand in mine and gave it a squeeze, "For being so horrible to you… and for not letting you kiss me on the roof."

My last few words made his eyes open wide in surprise, "What? I shouldn't have tried, I didn't want you to cheat on your boyfriend, I just wanted you to admit your feelings for me."

"I cheated on James anyway. I was in love with you all that time but I still kept James around."

"So you whole-heartedly admit that you're in love with me?" he gave a small smirk.

Instead of answering, I grabbed his face and pulled him towards me for a kiss that I knew we had both been waiting for a very long time. When he finally pulled back, I said, "I don't know how the hell you knew back then already but I'm in love with you, Tone."

He grinned at the confession and I realised from his happiness that he had been waiting for me to say that since he had arrived in London.

"I need you Maxxie. I thought I'd be okay here with Effy but I've lost control." he said quietly, the grin on his face not having disappeared but just slightly lessened.

I nodded my head. Of course he needed me. It was what he had been telling me for ages. And I needed him too. We weren't any good on our own anymore, we needed each other. "Come with me back to London. Come and be with me." I said, pulling him in for another quick kiss.

"You want me to replace James in your flat. In your life."

I shook my head fervently, feeling high on Tony. But this time it was different, being with Tony no longer made me feel confused. I was only happy, there was no guilt or frustration anymore.

"No, Tone, come and be with me. There is no James any longer. I-we- don't need James or anything else. The only thing we need is each other."

* * *

A/N: Let me know what you thought, especially of Effy! Thanks again for reading! And if you're interested, go and check out my Glee fanfiction and my story on Fiction press. Have a wonderful day/night! -Cloey :)


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